This invention relates to a hairdresser's aid and, more particularly, to a masking sheet of flexible material for masking selected strands of a head of hair from other strands of the hair while the selected strands are treated, such as by being subjected to a setting process and/or to a bleaching or coloring process.
A well known technique for treating strands of a head of hair is to apply to the head a cap having a plurality of apertures through which strands of hair are drawn by means of a hook. The strands of hair which project through the apertures are treated while the strands of the head of hair remaining beneath the cap are masked by the cap and therefore are not treated. After treatment, the cap is removed from the head and drawn away from the treated strands.
A disadvantage of using such a cap is that the process of drawing strands of hair through apertures in the cap and subsequent removal of the cap from the head often causes discomfort to the person wearing the cap. A further disadvantage is that such caps generally are not transparent and, in consequence, a hairdresser is unable to see which strands of hair to select for treatment.
In lieu of such a cap, another embodiment of a hairdressing aid has heretofore been proposed which utilizes a perforated strip which forms part of or is secured or securable to a sheet, sleeve or bag into which hair pulled through the perforations of the strip can be wrapped after it has been treated with dye or like coloring material.
In practice, a plurality of such strips would be used in treating a head of hair and, since each strip is elongate, it is easier to place each strip adjacent a portion of the hair from which strands of the hair will be selected for treatment. Each perforated strip is located relative to the head of hair by means of a plurality of clips and strands of hair are pulled through the perforations by means of a hooked needle and are masked from remaining portion of the head of hair by means of the sheet, sleeve or bag corresponding to the strip.
In another prior hairdressing aid, the strip is formed by a layer of double sided adhesive tape which itself is bonded to an edge region of a plastic sheet, or a sleeve or an opening in a flat plastics sheet material bag and perforations are formed through the sheet material and the double sided adhesive strip. It is stated that the slight adhesion which inevitably occurs between the hair which has been pulled through the perforations and the exposed surface of the adhesive strip assists in holding the edge region forming the strip against the wearer's head.
Although the latter hairdressing aid provides for greater flexibility than a perforated cap in that perforated strips may be secured by corresponding clips in the region of strands of hair which are to be selected for treatment, the perforated strip still suffers from the disadvantages referred to above, namely that the process of using the perforated strip still requires drawing of strands of hair through apertures causing discomfort to the person whose hair is being treated and the hairdresser being unable to see which strands of hair to select for treatment. Even if the perforated strip were to be of transparent material, the strands of hair can only be treated subsequent to application of the perforated strip to the region of the head of hair which includes the strands to be treated and the strands subsequently can only be drawn out by inserting a hooked needle through the perforations of the strip and manipulating the needle so as to pull through the apertures strands of hair generally in the region of the head of hair which is to be treated. It is somewhat a chance affair selecting strands of hair to be treated because application of a strip flattens the hair below the strip and the strands to be treated are drawn from a swirl of strands below the strip.
Furthermore, even though the prior embodiment utilizing the perforated strip formed by a layer of double sided adhesive tape effects a slight adhesion between hair pulled through the perforations and the exposed surface of the adhesive and thereby assists in holding the edge region forming the strip against the wearer's head, it is still necessary to locate the strip on the hair by means of additional clips. Also, it is not possible to locate the strip in abutment with the scalp of the head with a result that lower portions of the treated strands between the strip and the scalp may not be subjected to the treatment. If the treatment is a coloration process, such lower portions of the treated strands will not be colored and the result of the process will be unsatisfactory.
A further disadvantage of utilizing perforated strips is that application of the strips to a head of hair, i.e., clipping the strips to the hair and manipulating a hooked needle to draw strands of the hair through apertures, and removing the strips from the hair after treatment, i.e., removing the clips and pulling the strips from the treated strands, would be time consuming.